the Wandering Wand
by Jabberwocky
Summary: The Baudelaires from Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events meets Harry Potter. Only one chapter I need ideas. And that Puck kid who reviewed this is buggin me right now. She doesn't know what she's talking about, don't listen to her at all peopl


The Baudelaire orphans looked up at their new home, freezing as they were on the doorstep. Mr. Poe coughed into his handkerchief and rang the bell, which was a pull one. 

"Now, here in Bulgaria I'm sure you'll be safe from Count Olaf. Really, I don't think he'd follow you all the way to _Bulgaria_ to get at your fortune," he said, and coughed some more. The three Baudelaires doubted this. Count Olaf had followed them to all their other guardians, why should Mr. Krum, their new guardian, thwart – a word which here means "stop Count Olaf from getting them _again_" – him?

The door of the huge house opened, to reveal a well-kept entrance hall. The woman standing there looked to be about twenty, and she was really very pretty. She had brown hair and brown eyes, and as she smiled she revealed perfect teeth.

"Why, hullo, you must be the Baudelaires! Violet, Klaus and Sunny, right?" she asked.

"Yes, we are. I'm Violet, and this is my brother Klaus, and this is my baby sister Sunny. Are you Mrs. Krum?" said Violet.

"Why, yes, I am. It's very nice to meet you. Please come in, I'm only just myself getting used to the Bulgarian climate," Mrs. Krum said, moving aside.

"Now, I'd really like to, but my plane leaves soon, and I'd like to get back to the bank as soon as possible," said Mr. Poe, coughing again. "You children be good, I'm sure the Krums will take good care of you." Mr. Poe turned and left. The Baudelaires walked into the house, and followed Mrs. Krum into the kitchen. 

"Winky, please make us some tea, would you? Then come and sit with us, have a cup or two, and let's get to know the Baudelaires. Now, Winky, I'm not paying you, so please be good and sit? Honestly, I'll never understand you," Mrs. Krum said to a green, small person with a squashed tomato nose, who was wearing a chef's outfit, who had started complaining when invited to sit at the table. The Baudelaires started wondering if Mrs. Krum was so nice after all, if she wasn't paying this person.

"Geeba?" said Sunny, which means "Why won't you pay it?"

"Oh, she won't let me, I don't know why. Really, I tried to get her wages in Hogwarts, but NO …" said Mrs. Krum.

"Mrs. Krum! You understood her!" said Violet in awe, only she and Klaus had ever understood Sunny before.

"Oh, yes, of course I understood her. And please don't call me Mrs. Krum, I'm not used to it. The only ones who do are the house-elves, and I only hired Winky because she was so sad at Hogwarts, and I wish the others weren't here. But that's what I get for marrying Viktor. Anyway, call me Hermione, or Auntie, or Aunt Hermione, or Hermie, or Auntie Hermie, or any combination you like. And I'm very sorry Viktor wasn't here to say hello, but the Quidditch World Cup's in Australia this year, so they're holding it in the middle of winter. Bulgaria versus England, and I didn't go `cause I wouldn't know who to cheer for – my husband or my best friend" said Auntie Hermie. "Oh, yes, I heard about Count Olaf. He does seem the sort to come after you, but I'm still owling Dumbledore, Sirius, Harry and Prof – Remus, and Ron and Ginny and Bill and Charlie and George and Molly and Arthur, and even Percy, to see if I can worm any Ministry stuff out of him every day, and we don't talk to Muggles much, especially _Bulgarian _Muggles, as You-Know-Who is with the giants at the moment, too bad they're on our side, and my parents are English. Ah, and I'd better go shopping with you soon, you'll need robes and such, all of us our staying in Hogsmeade for the winter, so we can keep up with the Cup and be with the old crowd in the hols. Ginny stayed up here, so she could send Harry owls about what's happening while the cup is on. Ron stayed too, and he so wanted to see Harry beat Viktor. Oh well. Yes, the point is, either you'll be in no place to come in contact with Count Olaf, or he's with You-Know-Who, and we'd be first to know from Severus, as much as I don't like him, if You-Know-Who got another Death-Eater, and well, you are with those closest to the boy lived 8 times, so, well, we'll do our best to protect you. Now, why don't you go choose a room, the only one on the second floor that's taken is the first one on the right, which is Viktor's and mine.I _have_ been rambling! I've got to go send out the daily owls!"

The three Baudelaires walked back into the entrance hall, while Auntie Hermie walked past and into a study, where she sat down and took out paper and started writing with a _quill_, and cooing to a rather large owl, who was twittering – a word which here means "making a great amount of noise as to bring the house down" – madly. 

"That's a sort of person you don't meet every day, she uses a quill, wears robes and talks about Muggles, whatever they are, as I don't think she's talking about drugs. And whatever is 'Quidditch'?" asked Klaus. 

"I have no idea, but she seems nice enough, lets go get rooms. Maybe I can find some interesting machines here. I'm sure the Krums have a wonderful library, Klaus, and with all this hardwood and ice Sunny can bite things to her hearts content," said Violet, who was an inventor at heart.

"Yes, it does seem nice. We can look around after," Klaus agreed. They were up on the second floor now, and they looked in all the rooms, except the first on the right, to see where they wanted to sleep. Violet found a room with many drawers and boxes and a table, and a beautiful bed in the corner. She chose this room, as the drawers were perfect for holding parts, and the table would make a wonderful drafting table. Klaus found a little room with shelves and a chair in it, and a small staircase, which led up to a loft with a set of drawers and a bed and some other furnishings, and decided to ask if he could transplant books into it, so he'd have his own library. Sunny found a nice room with a big window and a crib, which was connected by doors to both the rooms of her siblings. This room had a number of very interesting hard things in it, so Sunny thought it perfectly to her liking. When the Baudelaires met in the hall again, Auntie Hermie came back up the stairs. 

"Ah, I see you've all found rooms, that's wonderful! You guys can put whatever you want in them, books, things, whatever. Now, lets go have lunch. When you're done you can explore, I'd give you a tour, but it seems like it'd be more fun this way.The only place you shouldn't go is the top of the North Tower, only because it's Viktor's study, and I have no idea how he'd react to others in there. Don't be alarmed by the house elves, I have no idea what they do, they insist on being goody-goodies and not letting us see them most of the time. Winky is the only one you'll see often, she was fired and now doesn't care much. If you hear odd noises, it's likely just Crookshanks or one of the family owls." At this moment, a ginger cat came slinking up the stairs, which Auntie Hermie picked up and started stroking. "See, this is Crookshanks. Yes, aren't you the best kitty? He helped catch one of the most evil people of all time, didn't you? Ron hated him most of third year, but I suspect he's grateful now. Come on, let's eat!" Auntie Hermie and the Baudelaires walked down the stairs and into the dining room, where a truly spectacular lunch was waiting for them. When the Baudelaires had finished, Auntie Hermie said she was going to be in the library, so they could come up with her and start exploring from there. 

"Oh, Klaus, you'll be turning thirteen tomorrow, won't you?" said Auntie Hermie, just before they left.

"Yes, I will, thanks for remembering," Klaus replied. 

"Ah, yes, well, you can pick a book from Flourish and Blotts. Of course, if you buy a book of spells, you won't be able to do them, but the theory should be interesting. The only ones you probably shouldn't get are _Death Omens : What to do When You Know the Worst is Coming, _and _The Monster Book of Monsters._ I don't think they stock the _Monster Book_ anymore, and if you read _Death Omens_, you'll "see your doom" everywhere, and I have a friend who can look surprisingly like the Grim. Actually, if you want the _Monster Book, _I'll give you my copy. When you're done exploring, come in and see him if you want," said Auntie Hermie.

"Auntie Hermie, why do you call the book a "he"? Isn't it an "it"?" asked Violet.

"I don't know, I've never had the courage to look. Why don't you guys go and explore? I really must look up all references to You-Know-Who and Harry, which are bound to be tons. And I think I just got my copies of _The Daily Prophet_ and my English translation of _The Bulgarian Bugle_," Auntie Hermie answered, and went into the library, while the Baudelaires walked down the hall to start exploring.

You know that it is great fun to explore a whole rambling house in the country for as long as you want, with only the restriction of the North Tower, which they would've avoided anyway, as it was a tower which Count Olaf had had his room in. The Baudelaires poked around the house, and found many interesting things, including a great carved wardrobe, many suits of armor, one of which was lying on a table all taken apart, asking to have parts taken, books all over the house, pictures that seemed to start whispering when you passed, an owlery, a mirror that only reflected bustling misty figures, little glass tops, a chest with seven locks, a box of white sticks that tingled,a very curious map that had red dots moving on it and said, "Moony and Padfoot (Prongs sends his regrets, and we'd rather not see Wormtail again), purveyors of aides to magical mischief makers, proudly present the second Marauders' Map, many odd little machines, and, buried under rolls and rolls of parchment that seemed to be odd homework done by Hermione Granger, wasa crystal ball, a book called _Unfogging the Future_, and a sketch of a hand with labels for all the lines. 

So, after pillaging what they thought was interesting and unimportant enough to be taken, the Baudelaire orphans trooped back to the library, all smiles and dust. Violet was tapping the crystal ball, she thought maybe she could use it in an invention, if she was there long enough, and dragging most of the suit of armor in the sheet it had been covered with. Klaus was reading the homework, and had _Unfogging the Future_ under his arm. Sunny was gurgling and chewing delightedly on a framed signature of a man called Gilderoy Lockhart, which Violet had found along with a piece of homework by Hermione Granger that got nine out of ten behind a furnace in the basement.

"Oh, hullo," said Auntie Hermie when they came in, looking up from a book called _Hogwarts, a History_, "What's that?" She put the book down and came over to them, looking at what they got, telling them what it was. "Oh, the suit of armor! Yes, you can have that. Oh, you've got my homework, have you? Oh well, I guess it'll be interesting. Good, have that crystal ball, I hate divination. Ah, yes, that's the Divination textbook, I don't want it. Read it, you'll see what utter nonsense it is. Ah, you've found my Lockhart signature? Have it, he was an evil git, and he deserves to have his named chewed up. Would you like to look around?" 

"Ah, yes, thank you. And thanks for the stuff. What was the map?" asked Violet.

"Ah, you found the Marauders Map, have you? You did make a go of it, my study's on the fifth floor! I only keep the most important things in there, like my Dark Detectors, which the Real Mad-Eye Moody gave me. I still call him "Real", although I guess I shouldn't. He hasn't been someone else for six years. Oh well, first impressions. That map was a present from an old professor, and the godfather of one of my best friends. Prongs died nineteen years ago, and Wormtail is somewhere in the mountains, that evil little – I wish Crookshanks _had _eaten him. I may as well show you it. Let's go," auntie Hermie answered. 

They all trudged up to the fifth floor, and into a room hung with tapestries and red velvet, and a great golden lion on a red background was running around. There was a desk, and drawers and all sorts of things, including a broom, a jar with a beetle in it that looked rather old, and a lot of parchment. It was the room in which they had found the chest, the map, the mirror and the tops. 

"Wakka?" asked Sunny, which meant, "Why do all the pictures move?"

"I don't know. They all do here though. I should look that potion up. Photos are developed in a potion that makes them do that, and paintings and tapestries – well, I should've asked the Fat Lady while I had the chance. So, these are my Dark Detectors. They tell me when Dark stuff's happening. I was an auror fortwo years, till I married Viktor. Ron still _is _an auror, and Harry was until he joined the Quidditch team for England. Anyway, the mirror shows all my enemies. I'm only in danger when I can see the whites of their eyes. Look, that's You-Know-Who, that's the Malfoys, that's Moon, and there's Nott, and oh, look, it's Crabbe and Goyle! (Fathers and sons, you know. Wizard children hardly ever _do_ rock far from the tree.)" while she had said every name, she had pointed to a misty figure in the mirror. The Baudelaires had no idea how she could tell. 

"The map – well, I'll leave you to figure that out yourselves. It's fairly straight forward. The tops are Sneak-o-scopes, they go off when someone untrustwothy's in the room, but I charmed them so they don't pick up Rita," she pointed to the aged beetle, and handed them the map. 

There were pictures all over a wall, lots were of two elderly people, who were obviously Auntie Hermie's parents. Most, though, had two boys in them, one with red hair and freckles, one with black hair and glasses, who was short with green eyes and an alarming scar across his forehead. These two boys were sometimes accompanied by Auntie Hermie, some times were alone, and sometimes with other people. There were also pictures of a man with black hair, round shoulders and duck feet, who, in one picture, was in a tuxedo with Auntie Hermie hugging him and laughing, so they guessed this was Mr. Krum. There were other wedding pictures, though Auntie Hermie and the two boys were in all of them. One was the black-haired boy's wedding, and he was hugging a girl with red hair just like the other boy's, who was the best man, and Auntie Hermie was the Maid of Honor. They were laughing too. Then it was the red-head's wedding, with a woman who had blonde hair, and Auntie Hermie and the black-headed boy were there again. And then more red-heads were married, in a double wedding, the grooms were twins. Obviously related to the other red heads. One was beside a girl who had coffee-coloured skin and dark hair, and the other was another blond. And another one of a dark girl with a brown-haired man. There were also pictures of other men and women, and one with a long white beard who struck them as very nice. And the most amazing thing of all was _all the picture moved._

"You'll be meeting most of these people soon, you know. Let's go and poke around the library, okay?" asked Auntie Hermie, and they all trouped out of the study, and back to the library. You have probably been in many very interesting libraries, but none so amazing as the one the Baudelaires now found themselves in. It was very big, but it was the books that caught the children's' attention. It had most of the classics, all in one corner, like Shakespeare and the Brothers Grimm. But this was only one corner, and it was obvious the Krums wouldn't bother themselves with trashy books. There was also one big fat book on most interesting topics, such as Science, Philosophy and Art. But this was only the beginning of the books in there. As they glanced at the shelves, the Baudelaires became more and more curious about their strange new guardians. There were books and books on shelves and shelves, but not normal books. The more interesting titles were: _Powers You Never Knew You Had and What to do With Them Now You've Wised Up; The Standard Book of Spells, Grades 1-7; The Complete Adventures of Martin Miggs the Mad Muggle; A Guide to Site-Seeing in England for Wizards; Hogsmeade: Plan Your Next Vacation in the Only Completely Wizard Town in Britain; Songs to Sing at the Port Key, A Compilation of the Most Singable Songs Known to Wizard Kind;_ and many more.

"Oh! I said I'd show you the _Monster Book_! Well, come over here, he's in this cage. Be careful, he'll bite." said Auntie Hermie, beckoning them over to a golden cage in a window, which held a green book which was scuttling all around and flapping its covers.Auntie Hermie placed the book in a big aquarium and put on some scaly leather gloves, and put the book in the tank. It ran around. 

"There's the _Monster Book of Monsters_, be warned, its covers are sharp," said Auntie Hermie. She proceeded to put the book back in its cage. 

"Well, why don't we go to Diagon Ally and get your clothes and things? We'll be leaving tomorrow for Hogsmeade," she said. The Baudelaires could see she thought nothing of the whole moving-book incident, so they agreed, and decided to wait to have an uninterrupted rifle through the library. They went into the entrance hall, and Auntie Hermie put on a _cloak_. If just anyone had done this, they would've been very surprised, but as it was Auntie Hermie, it was what they'd been expecting. Then Auntie Hermie noticed that they did not have cloaks or coats.

"Oh! Yes, well, er, Klaus, could you bring me that box on the table? Yes, thank you, this is small enough to fit in my pocket … what's that spell now? Ah, yes … I suppose we'll want to arrive in the Leaky Cauldron, Hmm, that hall's not usually busy … yes … Now, I'm going to turn this box into a portkey, and when I count to three, grab a hold. It'll feel strange, but don't worry," said Auntie Hermie, and proceeded to say some odd words, after pulling a stick from a pocket and pointing it at the box, which was on the sideboard. 

"Latin," Klaus whispered to his sisters. 

"Alright then," said Auntie Hermie, putting her stick away. "All ready? OK, one … two … THREE!" and they all touched the box. The feeling the Baudelaires had was as if their bellybuttons were being pulled forward, and in a few moments, they came whirling and tripping into a hallway, that looked to be in a hotel. Auntie Hermie had stayed on her feet, and was cradling Sunny andhelping Violet up. Klaus got up, and saw a stairway a few yards away, down which Auntie Hermie was going. The Baudelaires hurried to catch up. When they got down, Auntie Hermie smiled to the bartender and said, "Why, hullo, Tom, you're holding up well! You've been here since I was eleven! Oh, Tom, these are the Baudelaires, they're sweet. I'm taking care of them now. We'll be doing our shopping for a trip to Hogsmeade. Oh, and Tom, they're Muggles, but I can't help Viktor's related to them, and I'd be really very hypocritical if I cared, wouldn't I?"

"Why, is it Hermione Granger? Last I heard you went off to Bulgaria … been keeping up with Harry Potter have you?" replied the bartender aimiably.

"No, I'm Hermione Krum now, I've married Viktor. Why else would I go to _Bulgaria?_"

"Ah, yes, I knew you'd end up with a famous Quidditch player, you, hanging about with _him_,"

"Tom, I've heard enough rumors about Harry and I in my fourth year to last me a lifetime. We're F-R-I-E-N-D-S,"

"Yes, well. Hullo, are you the Baudelaires?"

"Yes, we are," answered Klaus. "I was wondering, what's a Muggle, and what's Quidditch?"

"Oh, you'll find out soon enough. Now, I'm sure your aunt wants to get on with her shopping, you'll need robes and such to fit in in Hogsmeade," said Tom, and turned away to another pale customer, at whom Auntie Hermie glared. They walked outside, and Auntie Hermie tapped her stick on a brick. Then an amazing thing happened, the brick opened, to expose a street. Auntie Hermie led them in, and sighed.

"Well, you'll need robes first, But I think we should stop at Gringotts. And afterward we can go to Florean's; they've wonderful hot-cocoa," and she set off towards a huge white building, which she entered. Violet almost screamed at the door, and Violet is not the screaming type.But I'm sure what she saw would make you scream too, and even more that Auntie Hermie said hello to it as though it was an old friend, calling it "Griphook". It was a goblin. It was standing at the door, waving people, all in robes, in and out.

"This _is _an odd place!" said Klaus, in awe. The room they were standing in was huge, and goblins were at desks talking to people. More were waving them in and out of doors. Auntie Hermie got into a line, just behind a middle-aged man with crew-cropped hair, red as flame, whom Violet thought not-all-that-bad looking, carrying a heavy-looking bag. He slapped it on the desk and said, "There, that's the last batch from the Secret Chamber 5, Pyramid 3. I should say worth twice its weight in Galleons."

"Bill? Bill! It's you! What happened to your _hair_? Are you going to be up in Hogsmeade?" Auntie Hermie asked.

"What the - Oh, hullo Hermione. Yeah, I'll be there. I finally let Mum cut my hair, she threatened to shave me bald in the night. Still got my earring though," (he flicked an earring with a fang on it). "Wow, I thought you'd only been married a year, what you get, Insta-kid?"

"No! These are the Baudelaires, some distant relations of Viktor's and now we're taking care of them." (She blushed)

"Yeah, well, see ya, I've gotta round up my brothers and Dad at the Ministry," said the man called Bill, and he (looking VERY cold, as if he'd been in a warmer climate lately) walked out into the rather cold street. Then Auntie Hermie said something to the goblin at the desk, and he called for another, and he took the Baudelaires and their aunt to a door, the hall behind which was much less glamorous – a word which here means "it was small and made of dirt, while the hall was of marble" – and they went flying down the passage in a mine-cart. When it finally stopped, Sunny had been sick out the side. The goblin got out and ran his hand down the safe. Auntie Hermie then proceeded to get a lot of gold and silver and bronze coins out ofit, and hopped back in, rocking Sunny. After another bizarre – a word which here means "reminiscent of the biggest roller-coaster ever" – cart ride, they came back into the main hall and out into the cold December air. The Baudelaires were freezing, as their luggage was still being bungled by Mr. Poe.So, Auntie Hermie bustled them into what looked like an Ice Cream Shop, and paid thirteen Sickles for three hot-cocoas. They sat and drank them, being warmed all over, even more than was normal for hot-cocoa. After this they ran to a shop called _Madam Malkin's Robe's For All Occasions,_ where there were many nice ladies in stylish robes, who each took a child and fitted them with many robes of many colours and a cloak each, in Violet and Klaus' favorite colours and what colour Auntie Hermie said Sunny wanted. As the other women could not do this (understand Sunny) the two elder siblings gathered that Auntie Hermie was a very powerful witch, (they'd come to this sensible conclusion long ago). Freshly bundled in their new cloaks, they then went to the bookshop. It was called Flourish and Blotts, and it had books of the same sort that were in Auntie Hermie's library. She looked around, but, seemingly finding nothing to her interest, she talked to the clerk, while Klaus, feeling shy in his cloak, picked out a book called _Men Who Love Dragons Too Much_, which he thought he might find interesting. When he got to the counter, the clerk asked if they shouldn't be in school. Auntie Hermie then told they were Muggles, and though the clerk looked aghast at the orphans, all she said was that she hoped he wasn't planning to raise a dragon, whereupon Auntie Hermie said, "nutters like Hagrid," and chuckled all under her breath . After this Auntie Hermie stopped in at a newspaper office, re-directing her subscription, to a supply shop that smelled awful, - a word which here means "of dead bats, copper and many horrors the Baudelaires could not place" -and to a big building in the middle of a square, where she met the red-haired boy from the pictures, asked if he had seen the man from the bank, introduced as Ron, and made sure he was going to be in Hogsmeade tomorrow.

"Of course. Kait is there already, or she will be soon, she was sent off on a loner-mission to the Forbidden Forest last week. More unicorn killings, and Hagrid thinks it's been getting out of hand," he said. 

That night Auntie Hermie tucked them all in, and went across the hall. Klaus, Sunny, and Violet fell asleep to the warm glow of their fires, thinking life had maybe turned around for them. They were, of course, wrong.

You have heard the phrase "the early bird catches the worm" many times, I'm sure, and you also know that when one is using it, they are usually not in a conversation about worms and birds, but about being early for one thing or another. Really, I think there are many other factors that decide whether the bird can get the worm, however, even though people use this when talking about doing something early, this is not the reason you are always early. But for the Baudelaires they got up early next morning to "catch the worm". They were not, however, going to catch a worm and go fishing, but to go on a train. The next day they woke up very early and had breakfast. Auntie Hermie apologized profusely, but said that the train was the only way to travel. They had packed trunks the night before, and although one does not normally go on long train journeys toting trunks, but rather suitcases, the Baudelaires were not surprised, because they'd come to "expect the unexpected" from their aunt. Sunny ate while talking, and for the very first time could have a conversation with an adult. Indeed, Auntie Hermie was only six years older than Violet, and only eight years older than Klaus, and they could have very interesting and equal conversations. Promptly afterward, theydonned coats, for wich Auntie Hermie had spent a few hours last night finding, making sure their "Muggle" clothes were in their dressers, except that which they were using to get on the train, and Auntie Hermie made another portkey. When they got to where they were going, a busy London train station, Auntie Hermie put their bags on trolleys and wheeled them to the barrier between platforms nine and ten. It seemed Auntie Hermie had wanted to rest the carts on the wall, but they were still a few millimeters from it, but she did not push or anything more. Then she looked about, and drew the Baudelaires in around her. 

"We'll be taking the nine-o'clock train, but we've got to get to the platform first. It shouldn't be all that busy, as the Hogwarts train won't come till this evening. Actually, we're on the ride out, so the platform at Hogmeade station'll be really crowded. It's a long train ride into Scotland, so be ready for a boring few hours," she said, and pushed further on the cart. "Follow my lead," was her last remark, and she gave a mighty push on the trolley and through the wall. She pulled the Baudelaires with her when doing this, so they all thought they'd be slammed into the wall. But, to they're surprise, they weren't.

"Ah, yes, I thought, if you knew _of_the platform, you could get here. I was worried you wouldn't be able to get through, but you can, thank goodness. Merlin's beard, I haven't been here since Christmas!" she wiped a tear away. "It brings back such memories!" Auntie Hermie said, and walked off under the sign that stated this was Platform 9&3/4, NEXT TRAIN: to Hogmeade Station, 9:00 am. It was 8:55, so the Baudelaires talked to Auntie Hermie for two minutes, till the train came, and they and the other passengers boarded. They walked along the train, looking into every compartment, until they came to one ringing with laughter and faint POPs. Auntie Hermie stopped at this one and peered in. There were then cries of "Herm! Come on in, want a Canary Cream?" Auntie Hermie bustled them in, and found spots in the _very_ crowded compartment.Inside there were all people with red hair, two of which were the men they had met shopping, and one was the girl married to the black-haired boy. Auntie Hermie introduced them, and named them all, Ginny (the girl) Ron, (the second man they'd met shopping), Fred and George, two adult twins who were grinning wickedly at them, (they had seen their wedding pictures) Charlie, who had numerous burns, Bill, the man who'd been giving the gold to the goblin, Arthur, a man whose hair was sparse and graying, with touches of red, and Molly, whose hair was also graying with touches of red. 

"Hermione! You've been busy – weren't you only married for a year?" said a twin.

"Fred? This coming from _Fred Weasley?_ What's the grand total now, seven? But really, where'd they come from? I don't think there's a spell for that, so I'm saying there was something you didn't tell us about during school?" said the other twin mockingly.

"No, George, eight. Siri has just given birth to Wendella Weasley, and if I try anything more she'll kill me," answered Fred, beaming.

"No, I'm their new legal guardian. They're relatives of Viktor's, and the poor kids were orphaned this summer. We're their seventh guardians, so lay off. I'm (not like _some_ people) still a virgin. Get a life. Congrats, Fred," Auntie Hermie remarked.

"You're not the only one, Harry won't _let_ me have a kid yet. Neither would Mum, I kinda don't blame them, I'm only nineteen. I wonder what happened to Siri's mom, she's my age. Oh yeah, still in Canada," said Ginny. She reached out and started holding Sunny lovingly. Sunny was chewing lightly on her thumb, she hadn't had this much attention since her parents had died. 

"Yes, and he's right, too. I had to convince you two not to get married as soon as you finished school, Ginny, but I'm so glad Harry saw it my way. You're really very lucky, Ginny," said Molly. 

"Hey, little girl, want a Canary Cream?" asked a twin of Violet, she couldn't tell whether it was Gred or Forge.

"My name's Violet, thank you," said Violet, and reached out to take one. Just then the woman named Ginny who was only nineteen grabbed her hand.

"Never take food from Fred or George unless you want something very strange to happen. Those particular sweets turn you into a canary for a few seconds, but they're really harmless.The only one that's technically _dangerous _are the Ton-Tongue Toffees," she put Sunny on the seat beside her and took a cream. "Yum. They taste wonderful, though, want one?" 

"Er … " said Violet, hesitant. Ginny then bit into the Cream, and ate it in two bites. Then there was a faint POP and there was canary where she used to be. She fluttered around for a second or two, and sat back down just in time for the magic to wear off, and turn back into a human.She picked up Sunny again and continued rocking her, and started a conversation with Auntie Hermie.

Klaus had been sitting over by Molly, and she was spoiling him awfully, but he came over to sit by Violet so they could have a talk.'

"I think I've figured out what a Muggle is," he said to her in a whisper.

"What?" asked Violet.

"Someone who's not like them," he waved to all the people in the compartment, "people who aren't Magic. I think Quidditch is a game, one that these people like a lot, and that two who would be here normally are playing it. One is the husband of Ginny, Auntie Hermie said that "Harry" went to play Quidditch professionally, and I think Molly is Ginny's mother, and she said that she was proud of Harry for not letting Ginny have a child, and for realizing they shouldn't get married while they're very young. In this case, just out of school.The other is Mr. Krum, because we know he's married to Auntie Hermie, and she said that if she was at the Quidditch World Cup because she wouldn't know who to cheer for – her _husband _or her best friend,"

"Yes, Klaus, I think you're right. If they're planning on following the Cup, we've a chance to find out what Quidditch is, in more detail. But there's two things we need to know, and they are what they're like. Mr. Krum and Harry, that is. We know they're wives seem okay, but what about _them_? I don't like the sound of Mr. Krum, however nice Auntie Hermie may be. He might also be jealous of Harry, it seems everyone thought Auntie Hermie was going to marry him instead. But Auntie Hermie doesn't sound like she ever thought of marrying anyone until a little while ago.Anyway, I still don't know what we'll be doing in the Hogsmeade place, but I think we'll soon find out. Now, I'll try a cream, and we'll see what happens." Violet bit into the cream, and she turned into a canary. She fluttered about for a bit, and came back down on the seat. She then turned back to a human.

"Well, they're not lying about that," she said.

"What I want to know is where in the world Count Olaf is. I'm starting to be worried. When he doesn't show up right away it's always extra awful. Like when he kidnapped the Quagmire triplets," said Klaus, shuddering. But he didn't have long to be preoccupied, as a witch pushing a cart came and sold them food. There were all manner of things, but Auntie Hermie dutifully made the children eat the "Cauldron Cakes" before letting them move on to the desserts. The Cauldron Cakes tasted wonderful, but were evidently nutritious. When they had finished three or four each, they were allowed to move on to the sweets. Violet munched on a licorice wand, and Klaus made a go for the Every Flavour Beans. He liked jelly beans, but gota little suspicious when Auntie Hermie moved to say something,but a twin put his hand over her mouth. He picked a nice, pink one, expecting strawberry, but he got Pink Styrofoam. He tried others. Once he got a strawberry one, but he also got mocha-chino, toast, sugar, chocolate, fairy dust, wand, mahogany, purple fish, tuna, and old boot, whence he stopped eating them. He told Violet about that, so she started in with Chocolate Frogs. When she opened hers, a little card fell out. She picked it up. On it was a picture of a man. He was smiling a waving and holding a broomstick. Under the card was written "Newest Card!!! Harry Potter Collectors Edition Quidditch Card!!!" Yes, the picture _was _of the smiling man in the pictures at Auntie Hermie's house. Violet could even make out the brand of the broom he was holding. _The Firebolt 2000. _she showed it to Ginny. 

"Is your full name Ginny Potter?" she asked.

"Yes. He's my husband." She was looking lovingly at the card waving to her.Violet opened more frogs, and got more pictures of famous wizards. She learned they were going to meet and talk to Albus Dumbledore, Sirius Black (who had a card titled "Sirius Black: The Most Infamous Convicted but Escaped Murderer EVER!!!"), and a whole lot of other personages of the wizard world. She sat, contentedly talking to Ginny and Auntie Hermie. She missed school. She missed inventing. Klaus was talking to Arthur about what he called "Muggle stuff". Sunny was burbling on Ginny's knee. 

A few hours later they climbed out onto the platform. A giant waved.

"See you in the Three Broomsticks, Hagrid!" Auntie Hermie said to him. They walked through the crowd of black cloaks on the platform. When they were out they headed to a house with a sign "The Shrieking Shack" on the gate. It was nicely done up, but looked as if it were an old house that had recently been fixed. The villagers were giving them a wide berth as the party of twelve walked towards the house. It was rather big – it turned out it had enough bedrooms so that Arthur and Molly were the only ones who had to share. There were, even, people already there – the bearded man, named Dumbledore, who gave them all lemon drops, smiling and chuckling. There was a lady called Minerva, who told them to call her Professor McGonagall. Ron, Auntie Hermie and Ginny called her Professor McGonagall, too. There were two other men – who were staying in the house (McGonagall and Dumbledore were staying elsewhere – that part wasn't all that clear ) – Remus and Sirius Black, the Infamous Murderer. They were nice –despite Sirius' reputation - especially Remus. They took them all shopping. Auntie Hermie, Ron and Ginny were laughing their heads off in most of the shops. They came loaded with more candies out of a shop named "Honeydukes", in which the twins were trying to convince them to eat something that looked vaguely like peanuts. They didn't eat any because Ron was laughing. At dinner- which they ate in "The Three Broomsticks", with Hagrid, the giant, Professor McGonagall, and Mr. Dumbledore, they all started a conversation with an extremely vary waitress, her eyes kept darting to Sirius. She seemed to think he might do something, and he kept a rather wicked grin on his features. Finally, later on, in a private both in the back of the restaurant, the grown ups got to talking. There were a few more people there, a man called Mundugunus Fletcher and a lady named Arabella Figg. 

"Albus, why are we here?" Mrs. Figg asked.

"Because of a note I received from Severus," Dumbledore answered.

"You got a note from Snape?" asked Ron.

"Yes, Mr. Weasley. This is what it said:

"Albus,

"So far all is well – TMR is still going to the mountains, and still doesn't know about the ambush of giants that waits for him. Fridwulfa knows me and has promised I won't get beaten to death. However, he _has _just taken on a new Death Eater – a man who calls himself Mr. Shimshanks. I doubt that's his name. He does not wear robes, although he _is _a wizard, and his pants are too short and show his ankle – it has an eye tattoo on it. Are there any secret societies with this symbol? I seem to remember on in the American underground with that symbol … Other than that, the only remarkable thing about him is a mustache, that curls and is very long. Look out for him, he's not in with TMR for the glory or the power, he wants something else."

"Count Olaf!" whispered Klaus to Violet. 

"I know."

"Will they believe us?"

"I don't know. But we have to try. Um, Mr. Dumbledore, sir? We think we know who that new – um – Death Eater is. It's Count Olaf."

__


End file.
